St. Dennis closing soon in Royal Oak; warming centers scrambling

ROYAL OAK — St. Dennis Catholic Church will be closed by the end of the year and when it shuts its doors after 62 years it will leave the biggest hole in the safety net for homeless people in a decade.

No more night-time warming center during the coldest part of winter. No more food pantry and no more church address to use for state ID, job applications and mail.

“This is a big gap to fill,” said Roy Watson, a volunteer with the South Oakland Warming Centers (SOWC) and the director of the Welcome Inn, which opened in 2003 to give homeless people somewhere to escape the winter elements during the day.

The Welcome Inn schedule coincided with the rotating warming centers to provide round-the-clock shelter and services for homeless people until now.

Advertisement

St. Dennis, 2200 E. 12 Mile Road, is in the final stages of merging with St. Vincent Ferrer, Madison Heights; the future use or sale of the Royal Oak property hasn’t been decided.

SOWC organizers are scrambling to find another church to take over St. Dennis’s warming-center slot of Feb. 17 through March 2, 2013 – a two-week period that is often the busiest with up to 120 people seeking a meal and a place to sleep.

The Rev. John Esper, who has been ministering to the merging parishes, said St. Vincent, 1807 E. Gardenia Ave., doesn’t have room to host the warming center.

“We don’t have the physical space. The space we have is nearly overused by the Montessori charter school,” Fr. Esper said. “In this transitional time I’m not free to make a commitment to the warming center.”

St. Vincent parishioners would consider helping staff a warming center if a new location is found to replace St. Dennis.

“Undoubtedly people here would want to serve there,” Fr. Esper said.

St. Dennis and St. Vincent are merging as part of a consolidation plan of the Archdiocese of Detroit to address declining membership and a shortage of priests. Fr. Esper said the exact day of the last Mass at St. Dennis hasn’t been announced and he isn’t sure how many parishioners will go to St. Vincent.

“Our Masses are slightly larger so a fair number are coming to St. Vincent but some won’t, which we expect,” he said.

While Fr. Esper leads the parish consolidation, Watson is looking for another church or two in the Royal Oak and Berkley area to take in homeless people for the 14 nights St. Dennis was going to host the warming center. The guests get a meal and blanket then sleep on the floor of the church.

“If anyone knows of a church that could possibly fill all or part the St. Dennis slot, please contact me,” Watson said, adding that SOCH will pass along the pillows and blankets from St. Dennis.

In addition to the warming center, food pantry and address service, St. Dennis had a financial assistance program for low- and no-income people needing help paying bills like rent and utilities. Watson said the church gave out $4,000 one month to get struggling individuals and families through tough times.

“They helped a whole lot of people and now that’s gone,” Watson said. “None of us have the resources to fill a void like that.”

But they are trying to fill the gap in the warming center schedule. To date, the rotating sites include Emmanuel Bethel, Royal Oak, which will host Dec. 19-31; Renaissance Vineyard Church, Ferndale, which will host Jan. 1-13; St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Royal Oak, which will host from Jan. 13-26; Genesis: The Church, Royal Oak, which will host Jan. 27 to Feb. 8; Starr Presbyterian, Royal Oak, which will host Feb. 9-16; and Berkley Community Church and National Shrine of the Little Flower, which will host March 3-15 in Berkley.

The latter partnership came about because Shrine had the volunteers but no space for a warming center until the deal was struck with Berkley Community Church. SOWC organizers wouldn’t mind seeing another similar arrangement.

On most nights 50-80 homeless people turn to the warming centers, which are open 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. St. Dennis had a reputation for providing good meals and often saw higher turnouts.

“A lot of churches look at the program and feel overwhelmed,” said Mike Franz, who organizes Shrine volunteers to work in Berkley. “It is a big commitment but it is worthwhile. People have frozen to death out there and that is our main mission. We don’t want anyone to die from exposure.”

Any church representatives wanting more information about hosting a warming center from Feb. 17 through March 2, 2013, or allowing use of their address for mail for homeless people should contact Watson at welcomeinn.roy@gmail.com or 248-885-4881.